Driven only by instinct, the creature that Helena Kirby had become moved silently and swiftly through the night. She was more animal than human now. Intellect and reason no longer held sway in her mind. Her base animal urges and instincts instead ruled her. She was hungry now and needed to feed. Tonight she truly was a huntress.
The miles had passed by quickly as the cat/human hybrid moved through the Westchester area. She avoided lit areas and instinctively stuck to the shadows. The walls and fences that surrounded the various estates were not a barrier to one who could leap over them with ridiculous ease.
In a lightly forested area, Helena stopped. She sniffed the night air, deeply breathing in all its myriad scents. Her senses now far surpassed those of any normal human. She could track her prey by scent alone, if need be. Likewise she had superior feline sight. Darkness and deep shadows were no hindrance. Then the desired smell did finally reach her snout.
FOOD!
Helena burst into motion once more. She ran using all four of her limbs for locomotion. Any obstacles in her way she simply leaped over. In a matter of seconds, Helena emerged from the forest and came to a dead stop in a crouch.
Laid out before her was a wide-open area. There were hard paths going to her left and right for as far as Helena could see. A multitude of smelly things moved along them. Some were noisier than others were and each appeared to be different from her. They had twin eyes in their fronts that projected bright lights. These creatures apparently could not see as well as Helena could. That would be to her advantage.
The smell of food was growing more and more faint. Could it be one of these fast moving creatures that Helena had sensed? She rapidly determined the proper direction and then took off running once more. The strange beasts seemed to pay her no need. They were quick, nearly as fast as she was.
There! Helena once more located the smell of food. It was on one of these beasts and inside it seemed to be smaller beasts! It was these smaller beasts that Helena had sensed! They moved around inside the larger beast. Their cries for freedom now reached Helena's ears.
Helena licked her lips in anticipation. The hunt was on!
Reaching the side of the wide path, Helena leaped into the air and landed on the back of one of the larger strange fast-moving beasts. It did not react to her presence. Good.
Elements of a plan filtered into Helena's mind. She could use these strange beasts to reach the food she craved. Moving to the front of the beast, Helena plotted her course. A path materialized before her.
Helena leaped from her beast to the back of another smaller one. This one was startled and swerved wildly. Helena didn't stay long with the startled beast and quickly moved on to the next one. With feline ease, Helena leaped from beast to beast in rapid succession. Some of the beasts were spooked and crashed into other beasts. They squealed loudly in protest, as their formation was broken. Helena cared not.
With one final leap, Helena reached the food and crashed through the side of the beast. Its hide was thin and flimsy and could not bar her progress. The food squealed as they realized the danger they were in. They tried to flee but simply had nowhere to go.
Helena slashed out with her razor sharp claws, easily killing her prey. She grabbed the small creature and savored his odor for a moment. Then she bared her fangs and bit deeply from the dead and bloodied creature...
"That's incredible!", Firestar echoed, astonishment showing in her young face.
Felina had been woken by strange sounds coming from her daughter's bedroom. Thinking it only to be a nightmare, Felina had gone to comfort Helena. Instead, she had found something else entirely. Something much worse.
Helena was gone and in her place was something that looked like a cat in human form. It was covered in dark fur, but also had long hair on its head. The creature even had a tail.
The strange creature looked at Felina, both of them probably surprised to see the other. Felina realized when she looked into its eyes that the creature before her was her daughter. It was Helena or rather what she had become.
Helena then ran off, smashing through the balcony window and escaping into the night. The thing was incredibly fast, even by Felina's standards. It was gone from sight before she could even reach the balcony.
Felina called the Avengers for assistance immediately. It took less than half an hour for them to arrive. Now they were all standing in Helena's bedroom as Felina finished up her tale.
"How is this even possible?" The question was thrown out by Black Diamond. "What could have caused this?"
In addition to Black Diamond, Firestar, and Muskateer, Guardian Angel, Nightingale, and the Texas Ranger were also present. Supreme had remained at the Avengers Mansion to coordinate things. His lack of mobility would only limit his usefulness at this point.
"I can't possibly see how any of the medication Helena was on could have triggered a reaction like this," Nightingale added thoughtfully. "This is some sort of genetic mutation. Something must have triggered it. But what?"
"Whatever caused this, we still gotta find the lil' lady!", the Texas Ranger spoke up, emotion thick in his voice. "Before she gets herself inta trouble!"
"Or before she causes trouble," Angel inserted. "In her present state of mind, our colleague may not be able to tell friend from foe."
"You're right of course," Black Diamond stated. "We've got to find Helena and figure out what caused this. Muskateer and Nightingale will stay here. See if you can figure out what triggered this change in Helena. The rest of us will split up and see if we can find her. Everyone keep in constant contact. Don't approach Helena if you should find her. Just keep her in sight until the rest of us arrive. Let's go!"
Black Diamond quickly took flight from the balcony, with Firestar and Guardian Angel following closely behind her. Ranger paused a moment to speak to Felina. "We'll find her, ma'am. Just don't you worry."
"Thank you," Felina gratefully answered. "Just bring Helena home."
Ranger turned and flew off after his teammates. Wearily Felina dropped into one of the chairs in the room. "Will this nightmare ever end? First what the White Dragon did to her and now this..." Felina couldn't help but weep.
Nightingale and Muskateer were busy examining Helena's torn up bed. "Looks like Sprout ripped off all her bandages in the process."
"It is possible that in her present state Helena has hyper-regenerative abilities. There is no way she could have moved as Felina described in her injured state."
"Makes sense," Muskateer admitted. "But there's nothing useful here."
Nightingale nodded in agreement. Cautiously, she turned and walked towards Felina. "Mrs. Kirby? Can you think of anything unusual that happened since I examined Helena this afternoon? Even something that might seem insignificant?"
Felina looked up tearfully. "This is all my fault. I never should have told her."
"Told her what", Muskateer questioned as he joined in on the conversation.
"She was just so miserable and depressed. I thought I was helping her. Why did this have to happen?"
"It must be family trait to have to answer all my questions with more questions," Muskateer responded curtly. The Huntress used to do that regularly to Muskateer, much to his annoyance.
"Mrs. Kirby," Nightingale continued, "what did you tell Helena?"
Felina sighed deeply before she began to explain, as she wiped her eyes. "Helena had been worrying that she wasn't as talented as her parents."
Muskateer offered Felina a tissue to help dry her tears. "Sprout told me the same thing. I thought that was why you both went to Sanctuary for testing in the first place."
"What she didn't know was that her father had the same type of trouble when he was young. Lane told me that they developed a booster shot to bring him up to his father's level."
"Oh great. I see where this one is going," Muskateer grumbled.
"And you told Helena this?" Felina just nodded in response to Nightingale's question as she wiped her eyes with the tissue. "Given the mental state Helena had been in, if she found this 'booster shot' she might have very well injected herself."
"That might do it. Pretty stupid thing to do, if you ask me," Muskateer grunted.
"Helena was desperate and depressed. People in those circumstances do not make rational choices." Turning back to Felina, Nightingale added, "Do you know if Helena injected herself with anything?"
"No," Felina answered. "I didn't see her take anything. She went down to the lair to look for information about the shot on the computer. I wasn't with her the whole time. I was just so happy that she was up and about and showing some signs of life."
"I understand," Nightingale said reassuringly.
"I better go down and take a look," Muskateer suggested as the started towards the door. "Hopefully something'll turn up."
"Good idea," Nightingale agreed as she momentarily looked away from Felina. After Muskateer left the room, 'Gale turned back towards Felina. "Have you gotten the results from your tests on Sanctuary?"
"Yes, but I never looked at them. Helena had quit, so I didn't see any reason to mention them to her."
"Could you get them for me please? They might hold vital information."
"Of course." Felina rose from her chair and quickly left to retrieve the report. She returned a few minutes later and handed Nightingale the envelope.
'Gale accepted and began to page through the report. Her eyes grew wide as she read Dr. Marin's analysis and conclusions. "Oh my God...."
Her hunger sated, Helena looked around. New sounds and smells were reaching her sharp senses. Everything was brightly lit now. She gazed out of the back of the tractor-trailer at the buildings all around her. There were more of the strange road creatures here, but they were moving much slower than before. It all seemed vaguely familiar to Helena, but she couldn't seem to remember. Her mind seemed to have some sort of fog hanging over it. All she knew was that she didn't like what she was sensing.
The beast she was riding in came to a stop and Helena leaped out. She landed on the street before a smaller beast. The creature inside screamed when it saw Helena fully illuminated in its headlights. Other screams followed as people on the sidewalk stopped and stared.
Helena reared back and growled at those around her. It was a terrifying sound to witness and people began to run away in terror. She lashed out with her claws and neatly sliced through the hood of the car before her. Its operator screamed once more.
Having had enough of this, Helena bolted. She ran with the grace only a feline could possess down the street. Spotting a darkened alley, Helena changed course and reached it in three large bounds. She felt safer in the shadows.
Foul smells now reached her snout. This alley might have the safety of darkness, but its odor was offensive. Helena liked it not one bit. It smelled of waste and decay.
Spying a fire escape, the transformed feline leaped once more. She landed once on the fire escape and then reached the top of the building with her next jump. Helena was now eight stories about street level.
Helena looked out over the city below her. From this vantage point she could see much taller buildings off in the distance. The large beast had carrier far from the familiar confines of the forest. Her senses told her to run away from this strange place.
But something prevented Helena from leaving. She looked back towards the city once more. There was something familiar about it, but she couldn't understand what. There were fleeting memories whose meaning eluded her.
Reacting against her instincts, Helena leaped to the next building. With a running start she easily leaped to the other side of the street. There were fewer distractions as she kept to the rooftops. Something was drawing her deeper into the city and it was a summons that she could not ignore.
"Guardian Angel to the Avengers," the famous television heroine spoke into the comlink that had been loaned to her. "Come in, please."
Black Diamond pulled her own comlink from her sash. The heroine was flying over the Westchester area in her search. "Diamond here. Did you find Helena?"
"Unfortunately, no," Angel reported. "However, I am currently on a nearby interstate highway lending aid. There's been a large multi-car accident down here. I am working to clear the road."
Fourteen cars had been involved in the accident. Fortunately, most of them were of the plain fender-bender variety. Injuries to the drivers were only minor.
"Very good," Black Diamond responded disappointment clear in her voice. "Carry on."
"There's something else, Black Diamond. Several of the drivers are claiming that something that looked like a 'black panther' caused the accidents. That it was leaping from vehicle to vehicle like they were stones in a stream."
"That sounds like our target," Diamond realized as she noticeably perked up. "Do you know if she's still in the area?"
"From what I have been told, no. One witness saw this creature break into a livestock tractor-trailer right before his accident. It appears that our missing friend has found another means of transportation."
"Which direction was the truck heading?"
"I believe its destination to be New York City," Guardian Angel reported.
Back at the Communications Room at the Avengers Mansion, Supreme monitored the conversation. Finishing up with Guardian Angel, Black Diamond contacted him next. "Supreme? Did you copy what Guardian Angel reported?"
"That is affirmative," the large muscular man acknowledged. "I'll make some calls and see if I can locate that truck. Can't be too many trucks full of livestock due to arrive tonight."
"Agreed. Keep me advised."
"Count on it, darlin'."
The creature Helena had become wearily watched everything that was going on around her. Her trip across the rooftops of the man-made jungle was a brief one. Before too long, she had reached the edge of the buildings. A wide expanse of water now separated Helena from her goal.
Wanting to avoid the water and puzzled on what to do next, Helena wandered the rooftops along the shoreline. Finally, an answer to her dilemma did present itself. There was a bridge where the noisy creatures that she had traveled upon before used to cross the water. That was her way across as well!
Helena moved closer to the wide path that led directly to the bridge. Down in the street below, many of the noisy creatures were at a stop. Helena couldn't understand why they were just sitting there, but would not let this opportunity slip past her.
Spying a large beast below, Helena leaped from the roof of the small building she was atop. She landed lightly and nearly silently on the metal beast. It noticed her not. Past experience had taught Helena to avoid the small beasts. They spooked too easily in her presence. Now riding on the back of another great beast, Helena had arrived in Manhattan.
"'Gale, check this out." Muskateer strolled back into Helena's bedroom. In his hand were a hypodermic and a small bottle that he offered to his teammate. He was also carrying several pages of printouts. "I found the needle on top of a refrigerator. The bottle was inside. Sprout left the computer on. She had been reading her father's journals about her and his notes talked about this booster thingie working just fine for her. I guess they wanted to run some tests to make sure first, but there's nothing saying they ever did. I printed out the parts that looked important."
Nightingale accepted the needle, bottle, and printouts and gave them a curious examination. There was very little she could tell by just looking at the bottle. "I hope there's enough of this to examine, but this appears to be the cause of Helena's change. I can safely tell you that Hunter never did have those tests run. If he had this would have never happened."
"What do you mean?" Felina joined the two Avengers, confusion etched on her face.
"You have some idea why this all happened?"
"Yes, I believe I've got this figured out. Let me start at the beginning," Nightingale explained. "The first Hunter was chemically mutated into being superhuman."
"That is correct," Felina responded.
"His son only receives some of that enhancement. Not all of the treatment transfers down to the DNA level to be transmitted to his offspring. The booster shot accents those traits already in the second Hunter's DNA and adds those that are not. The end result is that he's about as powerful, maybe a little more, maybe a little less so than his father."
"Okay, so Helena has the same problem, but this shot radically affects her unlike her father," Muskateer mused. "So what's different between Hunter and Helena?"
"Well, it's not gender. The source of the problem is Felina."
Stunned, Felina took a step back. "I'm the cause of this? I don't understand? What did I do? I would never do anything to hurt Helena!"
"How did you gain your abilities?", Nightingale countered with a question of her own.
"I've always had them," Felina stammered out. "I can't remember not having them."
"According to the results of the tests you took on Sanctuary, you were not born with your powers. You were also chemically mutated, like the original Hunter. Probably at a very young age to account for you not knowing that it happened."
A look of complete shock came over Felina's face. She collapsed into a chair and stared out into space. "You mean I was changed when I was a baby?"
"Call it a 'Cat formula' if you will," Nightingale continued. "One that gave you feline traits."
"This is getting pretty deep, 'Gale," Muskateer interrupted. "So what you're saying is that not only does Helena have the enhancement she received from her father in her system, but her mother's as well?"
"Both of which were combined but diluted in her DNA. This booster shot enhanced both formulas giving her the strength and endurance of her father, and the feline abilities of her mother."
"And going way, way overboard on the feline part apparently," Muskateer concluded. "As nutty as that sounds, I can't argue with it."
"What do we do now?" Felina could only wonder, still in shock.
"I'm going to take this sample and notes back to Sanctuary," Nightingale explained. "We're going to have to come up with something to counteract the effects of this booster shot. If that is even possible."
"I'll tell the others," Muskateer stated. "This night just keeps getting better and better."
"I'll go with you to Sanctuary," Felina added, her initial shock turning into anger. "Someone owes me a very good explanation."
Helena had abandoned the large metal beast she was riding on. Once across the bridge and back into somewhat familiar territory, she took to the rooftops again. Vague memories tried to surface only to be beaten back down by her animal instincts. This place was familiar, but she couldn't place any exact details.
Upon reaching the highest perch is this area, Helena looked around once more to gather her bearings. Far off in the distance she could make out a large area of forest. It seemed familiar, but Helena couldn't understand why. Was it home to her? Or maybe it was near her home?
Helena was on the move once more. She ran with a steady, seemingly effortless gait. She swiftly crossed the rooftops in bounds. Great leaps propelled her across streets and to other buildings with ridiculous ease.
Occasionally some other creature would draw her attention and slow Helena's progress. People would see her and scream in fright. Birds would fly away as soon as they noticed her presence. It mattered not to Helena. She eaten her fill and wouldn't be experiencing the pangs of hunger for many hours. She simply continued on her way, not letting anything distract her.
Reaching another wide chasm, Helena came to a stop and stared down below. It was an unusually wide hard path down there. She could clearly make out the movement of the metal beasts below her. The building across the way was higher than the building she was currently on. There was no way to reach its top with a single leap. In spite of this, Helena simply backed up a few steps, ran forward, and leaped across the street!
Upon making contact with the building across the way, Helena easily dug her claws into the masonry creating hand and foot holds for herself. By repeating this process, Helena scampered up the side of the building and readily reached its top without incident.
Reaching the top of the building, Helena suddenly froze in place. Her senses told her that she was not alone. Someone else was nearby. It was the smell of danger, the sound of an enemy. Helena tried to locate the source of this danger.
"Nice costume," a voice called out from above.
Helena whirled to find an armored man hovering overhead. He wore coppery colored armor in a snake motif. He was too far away to be an immediate threat to Helena.
"What are you supposed to be," Copperhead demanded as he trained his wrist-mounted laser at Helena. "Some kind of 'cat-burglar'?" Copperhead chuckled slightly at this own joke.
Helena's response was a low growl. Her tail swished behind her in agitation. There was something about this man hovering before her. She knew him, but the exact details remained a blur in her transformed mind. All she knew was that he was not a friend. Helena crouched, waiting for her foe to strike.
"The silent type, huh? Fine, I'll play it your way."
With that, Copperhead opened fired. Helena had been expecting some sort of physical attack, not a ranged one. The laser fire tore through her side, blazing a path through her body. She howled in agony.
Enraged, Helena moved quickly across the rooftop and leaped at the hovering vigilante. However, Copperhead activated his jets and moved out of the feline's path. Helena swiped at her target, but could not make contact.
"What the hell is that thing?", Copperhead wondered aloud. Upon seeing Helena up close, the armored man quickly realized that his silent foe was not wearing a costume! "It's some kind of freakin' animal!"
Helena landed gracefully and was on the move again. Copperhead repeatedly fired his weapon, but this time he was presented with a fast-moving target and failed to connect. Laser fire dogged Helena as she ran along. She ducked out of sight behind a rooftop maintenance shed.
With his target concealed, Copperhead ceased firing. Whatever this creature was, it was incredibly fast and agile. Judging by the claws the thing possessed and how it used them to climb up the side of the building, it was incredibly dangerous as well.
"Come on out, furball," Copperhead called out. "Let's just make this easy on both of us. You're not going to get away from me. We can't have savage beasts running loose in the Big Apple. There are enough of those creeps around here all ready. Some of them even have titles."
There was no sound, no trace of movement from behind the shed. Warily, Copperhead flew in a wide arc around the maintenance shed; his wrist mounted laser at the ready. There was no way he was going to let that thing get close enough to use its claws on him.
Finally, Copperhead could see behind the shed and there was no one there. Frantically, he looked about trying to find the creature once more. Instead of him stalking it, it had been stalking him!
"Here kitty, kitty, kitty," Copperhead called out. "Uncle Copperhead has a nice bowl of fresh milk for you and a laser with your name on it."
Out of the corner of his eye, Copperhead spotted the dark shape moving below. But by then it was far too late to react. Helena ran forward and leaped into the air. This time she crashed into Copperhead and drove him down to the rooftop.
Copperhead hit the roof hard on his back. An impact made more painful by the jetpack he wore and the creature on top of him. Before he could react to defend himself, Helena was upon him. Her razor sharp claws slashed at Copperhead's armored torso. To his astonishment, the claws shredded his protective armor and pierced the skin below!
"Son of a bitch!" Copperhead cursed in pain. Blood began to well up in the slashes. Desperately trying to defend himself, he pointed his wrist laser at the creature and opened fired!
Laser fire tore into Helena once more at point blank range. She howled in pain and scampered away. She ran to the edge of the building and leaped across the street. Once on the adjacent building Helena continued to run. Her own wounds from the encounter with Copperhead were very painful. She would keep running for quite sometime.
As for Copperhead, he clutched his chest trying to contain the bleeding. He flew off, trying to reach home before he lost too much blood. Even now he was starting to feel dizzy and the city below him blurred in his eyes. He swore to himself that if he ever saw that creature again that he'd shoot it on sight.
"Supreme to Black Diamond," could be heard over the Avengers comlinks.
The flying heroine slowed down and pulled her own comlink out of her sash. Black Diamond was still continuing her aerial search for Helena without much success. She was currently following the interstate towards Brooklyn. "Diamond here. Go ahead."
"You guys better get back to town," Supreme reported. "From the police calls I've been monitoring, Helena is already here. There was a report of something that's being described as 'giant cat' leaping out of the back of a tractor-trailer in Brooklyn. The thing ran off and there have been sporadic sightings of it ever since. Now they've spread to Manhattan. There were even unconfirmed reports of Copperhead fighting someone in the same area."
"Any indication on where Helena is going?"
Supreme glanced at one of the nearby monitors. On it small blue blips indicated the location of the sightings thus far. "If I was a betting man, I'd say that she's heading towards Central Park."
"Understood. Diamond to the rest of the Avengers, our target was last spotted in Manhattan. We believe Helena is heading towards Central Park. Everyone converge on that location."
"I'm heading back to Manhattan right now," was the response from Firestar.
"Gotcha, Ma'am," came from the Texas Ranger. "We'll ride on in and head the lil' lady off at the pass."
"Guardian Angel here. I am en route to Central Park. I only pray that we can find out missing friend before any more trouble is caused or innocent blood is spilled."
"Muskateer, reporting in. I just dropped 'Gale and Felina off at the UN. They should be on Sanctuary by now. Heading to Central Park. Muskateer out." The squeal of tires could briefly be heard before the sword-swinging Avenger closed the communication circuit.
Black Diamond replaced her comlink and accelerated off into the night once more. It was still a few hours until dawn. She just hoped that they could find and contain Helena before daybreak. Before the majority of the citizens in New York would be up and active. Otherwise, things could get very, very messy.
Helena slashed the plastic away from the skylight opening and leaped inside. The pain from the wounds inflicted by Copperhead had faded. Her transformed body had already healed the damage. Having slowed her pace after fleeing from Copperhead, Helena found herself once more in a familiar area. She just had to investigate.
Helena landed in what had once been her own apartment before Roxie had torched it. Repairs from that incident were still taking place. Construction equipment was everywhere, but no workers were here at this late hour. With her superior sense of smell, Helena could still make out the smell of smoke from the tragic fire. She wrinkled her nose at the unpleasant odor.
She silently padded her way through her old apartment. Memories tried to surface inside her mind, but couldn't get past her base animal instincts. She knew that this place once meant something to her, the reasons why completely eluded her. The only feeling that she could understand was that this place had once felt like home.
Passing in front of a large picture window, Helena gazed out into the night. Her cat-like eyes allowed her to see through the darkness. Central Park stretched out below her. Her instincts told her to run to this natural place, that she didn't belong inside a human dwelling like this any more. She should be out and in the wild. Free to feel the breeze on her face and to take in all the sounds and smells of the outdoors. That was where she should belong. That was now her home.
Helena started to turn to leave when something on the far side of Central Park caught her eye. It was another building, but much smaller than the one she was currently inside. It too was somehow familiar. Again, just why it was so familiar eluded Helena, but somewhere deep in the back of her mind she knew this dwelling. She would have to investigate.
A small leap through the skylight put Helena back up on the rooftop. She casually climbed down the side of the building and reached street level once more. More metal beasts where moving past the building, but were seemingly indifferent to her.
Someone walking down the street spotted Helena and screamed in response. The terrified person turned and ran away, nearly stumbling to the pavement in their eagerness to escape. Helena didn't even bother to watch them run away.
No, it was the building on the other side of the forest that held her interest. The metal beasts kept on moving, not giving Helena a chance to get past them. Undaunted, she simply ran towards the curb and leaped. With feline grace, Helena easily cleared the metal beasts and landed in the park.
More screaming from other people was heard as Helena arrived in Central Park. Helena didn't care. Instead, she broke into a light sprint and padded her way through the park. She avoided the paths and kept to the trees whenever possible.
Helena's scamper suddenly came to a stop. Her feline senses told her that she was not alone. Something else was nearby as well. This smell was different. It wasn't the metal thing with the hurting light. This one was also an animal.
Helena spun to see some kind of birdman. His body was covered in light to dark brown feathers with golden highlights. Its arms and legs ended in clawed talons and it had a beak instead of a mouth. Large feathery wings grew out of its back. The birdman winged closer to investigate the strange creature before him. Helena hissed in response and went into a defensive crouch.
"What manner of beast are you," the birdman announced. "Why are you here? What business do you have in this place?" Helena did not, nor could she, answer.
"You will not find any prey here, my friend. Should your attentions be peaceful, then I shall let you be. But be warned, Aquiline will not brook any violence in his domain!"
The words barely filtered into Helena's mind. Their meaning completely eluded her. The tone did sound like some sort of challenge however. In response, Helena leaped to the attack!
Helena slashed out with her claws, but the Aquiline moved to avoid the deadly attack. The birdman soared off, away from Helena. She landed gracefully and ran after Aquiline.
Much to the birdman's surprise, the cat creature was gaining on him! It was incredibly fast, perhaps even faster than Aquiline himself. Aquiline banked sharply and glided back towards the pursuing feline. Aquiline's own razor sharp claws were at the ready.
The sudden change in course surprised Helena. She skidded to a stop but was unable to avoid a powerful slash from Aquiline. His talons tore into her side, drawing blood. The wound was large and blood covered her dark fur. With a hiss of pain, Helena collapsed to the ground.
Aquiline flew off and then slowly circled back around. The strange creature had not moved since collapsing. Perhaps he had hit some vital organ, killing the thing? That had not been his intent.
Aquiline buzzed his foe a few times, and it had yet to stir. Satisfied that his creature had been beaten, Aquiline landed and cautiously moved closer. Blood was flowing freely from the wound and was beginning to pool on the ground.
Aquiline couldn't help but relax. That's when Helena's cats' eyes shot open. Moving unbelievably fast, she lashed out with her own claws ripping into Aquiline's chest. The birdman stumbled back in pain.
Rising to her feet, Helena was ready to strike again when suddenly a burst of flame erupted between her and the birdman! Both combatants couldn't help but direct their gaze towards the source of this interference.
"That's quite enough from the both of you!", Black Diamond called out. Gathered behind the heroine were the other Avengers that had been searching for Helena. Flames were still playing around Firestar's hands.
"Stand away from the lil' lady," the Texas Ranger advised. "She's under our protection."
"We've come to take our comrade home," Guardian Angel added. "For your own safety, do not interfere!"
Aquiline shifted his gaze from the Avengers and back to the cat creature. Just what had he gotten himself into?
